The path to Pennsylvania Avenue took a detour through Sesame Street during Wednesday’s presidential debate, as Mitt Romney‘s name-dropping of Big Bird sent the fluffy yellow character’s name in social media overdrive.

Twitter officials said users tweeted the words “Big Bird” at a rate of 17,000 times per minute, with spoof accounts such as @BigBirdRomney and @FiredBigBird emerging from the fray with thousands of followers. Google reported the character’s name was among Wednesday’s top five searches.